


With Eyes of Blue

by realcasually



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Card Games Are Serious Business, Duel Monsters, F/M, Future Fic, Hospitals, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2018-07-11 09:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7041736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realcasually/pseuds/realcasually
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duel Monsters is leaving Seto Kaiba behind, and it's haunting him. Then the girl he shouldn't know turns up, alive and as mysterious as ever, and their past shows him the way to a new future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Master

**Author's Note:**

> (A couple of points on this story: it takes place just after the end of GX, with a few changes. Synchro and Xyz monsters have already been designed and released by Pegasus. (No Pendulums, though, for reasons I might explain another time.) and The Dark Side Of Dimensions isn't considered canon in this universe, though some of its cards may appear. Everyone is using revised and updated decks, and you won't be seeing any anime-only cards. I'll try to keep fan-cards of my own to a BARE minimum, unless they become important for plot reasons. Otherwise, it's the classic Yu-Gi-Oh we all know and love, and I hope you enjoy!)

“Now, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, wipe out Graydle Dragon and the rest of this loser’s Life Points!”

As the three brilliant bursts of light ripped forward and combined into one mighty beam, rippingstraight through the core of the shifting, liquid-metallic dragonoid and rupturing it utterly, scattering its remnants like thick iridescent rain in its wake, it carried Seto Kaiba’s challenger off his feet and deposited him at the feet of the circle of spectators who had been stunned into silence by the turnaround victory. Some of them looked to the victor, expecting some kind of comment.

His only action was to raise the wrist that didn’t carry his Duel Disk and examine his watch. “Four minutes, twenty-six seconds. I told you you wouldn’t last five. That’s why my name’s on that Duel Disk you’re wasting, and why nobody remembers yours.”

Kaiba didn’t waste any more words, turning and leaving the groaning heap of his defeated opponent behind as he walked back up the stairs of KaibaCorp, straight through the lobby and past the congratulatory boot-lickers and ass-kissers into the elevator that lead up to his office. As the doors slid shut on him, Kaiba leant against the wall and sighed, closing his eyes as the lift ascended.

Of course he had won: there had never been any doubt about that. He was Seto Kaiba: losing was something he just didn’t do. But until he had summoned Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon at the last possible moment, it had been down to the wire. Loser though he may have been, that faceless chump had proved something to Kaiba that he’d been trying to deny for some time now.

He was being left behind.

Once upon a time, his Blue-Eyes was all that he’d needed. No monster could overcome its raw power, but Duel Monsters was evolving, accelerating. Synchro and Xyz Monsters, and even new methods of Fusion… Though it quite literally turned his stomach to consider, Kaiba’s Deck was no longer the most powerful of its kind. If he wanted to keep his place at the top, he, too, had to step up to the next level.

He opened his eyes as the lift pinged, opening onto his top floor office. Stepping out, he took his seat and examined his deck, watching the cards catch the light.

Blue-Eyes had carried him this far, and it would again. Leave the spirit crap to Yugi and his nerd herd, but the card was his in a way nothing else was. It was his icon, part of him, and Kaiba never gave up on his own.

As for the rest of the cards, though, they were there only because they were once the strongest. If that was no longer the case, well, then—

His thoughts were interrupted by the trill of the phone beside his desk.

Picking up the receiver, he didn’t speak. If someone had this number, they knew who they were talking to, and even then only a few people did.

“Seto.”

And fewer still addressed him so casually.

“Ishizu.”

It had been some time since he’d heard from the Egyptian woman. He knew she was in Japan, but he’d had no reason to contact her, nor she him. Till now, it seemed.

“I’m at the hospital.”

“I’ll send flowers.” He moved to hang up.

She cut him off before he could. “You should come, soon. There’s somebody here I think you want to see.”

Silence filled the line as Kaiba considered. This was all too vague for his taste, and if it was more of her ancient mumbo-jumbo he could do without. But… Ishizu had proved to be useful before. The first time they met, she had bestowed an Egyptian God card upon him, and that reflected all too closely on his current dilemma…

“Ten minutes to get there, and I’ll give you another ten. Meet me on the roof. He didn’t wait for a reply, dropping the call before calling for his helicopter.

This had better be good, he thought.

Across the city, closed eyes stirred behind pale lids.


	2. Sage

Kaiba wasn’t sure if he respected or resented the way Ishizu Ishtar stayed perfectly calm as the helicopter touched down in front of her even as the wind stirred up from its slowing blades threatened to tear her headdress off. She even gave him a subtle smirk as he dismounted and strode right past her.

“It has been twelve minutes, Seto,” she calmly observed.

The look he gave her could have turned her gold jewellery into lead. “Then you have eight.”

Without further word she led him on through the labyrinthine corridors of the hospital. Silence was a comfortable thing between them, two people who understood that not everything had to be spoken aloud: even if they had very different reasons for believing that.

She stopped. He stopped behind her, and met her expectant gaze with one of his own.

“Are you going to tell me why I’m here, or am I supposed to wait for a vision?”

Ishizu only answered him with a knowing smirk. “Perhaps the visions are waiting for you, Seto Kaiba.”

He _really_ hated it when she did that.

When the only further comment he received was casting her eyes at the door they’d halted in front of, he huffed and thumbed the button to open it in a rather aggressive manner.

It was a hospital room, like many he’d seen in his life. Drips, monitors, beeping machines--

patient--

_\--he was on his knees, her body was in his arms, he was screaming and the dragon on the stone was screaming back--_

The hydraulic door would have slammed if it could. Kaiba’s hand shot out, wrapping around her necklace and heaving her up to his eye level as his words roiled with venom. “I don’t know what you think you’re playing at--“

“I found her, injured and sick, in the streets.” Even in the face of his terrible rage she was completely collected. “Before she passed out, she said one word to me.”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“She said ‘Seto.’”

He dropped her, turning to the window. The girl of his dreams: now there was a sentence that had a hidden meaning here. “I don’t know this girl. You know I don’t know her. Why bring me here?” His tone was calculated. He already knew the answer.

“Because she is connected to you. You know this, then and now. And if you will not listen to me, then the one thing you do trust is telling you the same,” she whispered, close now, as her hand rested on the Duel Disk ever-strapped to his arm. “You know this girl is connected to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. You know her name.”

His hand snapped away from her. “I don’t.”

“You do.”

“There’s no way I could.”

“Say it.”

“Kisara.” He hadn’t even thought about it. Damn.

Beyond the glass, the pale girl stirred as if she had heard her name through the barrier between them.

“Seto, you must--“

“Enough!” It barely took a motion to engage his Duel Disk, the blade clashing into place in a rapid motion that almost cracked her mask of poise. “I ‘must’ do nothing. Everything I have I’ve fought for, and this ‘destiny’ crap you keep trying to dump on me won’t be any different. It’s your turn to listen to me, Ishizu, and here’s what’s going to happen.”

Levelling a finger at her, he continued. “You and I will Duel, right here, right now. In the unlikely event that you win, I’ll admit you’re right about this ‘past life’ garbage and whatever that has to do with this girl. _When_ I win, you cut the fortune-teller act, pack up your fate and your mystery girl, and never waste my time again.”

His proposition echoed in the silence before a smile crossed her implacable features.

“I should have expected as such. Deals and Duels: these truly are the only languages you understand, aren’t they, Seto? Very well.”

She extended her own arm, and let the robes that swathed it fall away to reveal a Duel Disk (not one of his own design, but one not unlike those used by the priests back in-- no, he refused to acknowledge that place, that time, not now and not in front of her) that unfolded and hummed to life.

“I have spent so long being a prophet,” she mused, “a passive watcher, a mere messenger of destiny. I see now that I can stand by no longer.” Ishizu squared her shoulders proper, her stance now one of confidence and readiness. “Today I will transition from fate’s eye to its sword-hand, to see its vision made manifest without obstacle. If I must, I will _make_ you face the truth, Seto.”

“Cute speech,” Kaiba chuckled. “Sword-hand? Let’s see if your Dueling hand is any sharper!”

The projectors on each device sparkled as the holographic fields swelled to fill the hospital corridor.

“Let’s Duel!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I promised, chapter 2! Hope it hasn't been too long. Unfortunately, chapter 3 will be a while forthcoming: Dueling Network, the site I used to stage the Duels I use in my fics, recently got shut down. Planning out a fictional Duel that fits into the narrative is a little harder than it sounds, so this is on a semi-hiatus until I work something out along those lines! But I haven't forgotten, and hopefully I won't! Till then!


	3. Priestess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHEW WELP THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING HAHA O O P S
> 
> As I announced on the last chapter, the website I was using to help me script Duels went down. That, combined with going through a WHOLE lot over that almost-year's-time in general, meant writing fanfic has been something I have not been doing enough of. That being said, I'm out of my funk, have a lot more free time on my hands, and most importantly to readers of With Eyes of Blue, Dueling Network has returned under a new name, Dueling Book! That means I could get straight back to writing this, and as promised, I won't abandon it while I have a story left to tell. I've scripted the entire Duel as a whole, so chapter 4 will be coming hopefully within a few days: it'll be a nice change from the previous upload schedule. Thank you to Real_Geek_Girl_Goddess for the lovely comment, which did spur me on a little to get this chapter out! And thank you to everyone who has left kudos and read this fic: you all mean so much to me, and your kindness has helped me move forward with writing. I hope you enjoy Chapter 3 of With Eyes of Blue, where the real action I'm sure you've all been waiting for finally kicks off with a Duel!

Drawing his starting hand without even glancing at it, Kaiba stared Ishizu down for a long moment. Unblinking, she drew two cards from her hand of five.

“Since I am the challenger, I will be taking the first move. I trust you have no problem with this?”

“Why, is that destined too?” shot back Kaiba. “Go ahead and make your play, it won’t matter who’s first or second when I wipe the floor with you.”

 

TURN 1 – ISHIZU 4000LP KAIBA 4000LP

Ishizu refrained from a retort, laying the two cards down. “I set one monster face down in Defense mode, and another face-down card. I end my turn.”

 

TURN 2 – ISHIZU 4000LP KAIBA 4000LP

Kaiba snorted. “Color me intimidated. And here I gave you a shred of credit as an actually _competent_ Duelist. I’ll have to go easy on you just so Isono has enough time to refuel my helicopter! Draw!”

He added another card to his hand with a flourish before casting his eyes down to his cards. Two of his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons greeted him: pieces already falling into place. Plus he’d just drawn another monster, one that’d be immediately more useful in the short-term.

“I summon Twin-Headed Behemoth, in Attack mode!” The winged monster rose up in front of Kaiba, its duo of draconic heads snapping at the ends of its winding, muscular arms. “This is how a REAL champion opens a Duel. With a show of power! Twin-Headed Behemoth, give her facedown monster a demonstration!”

With a forward thrust of each of its heads, Twin-Headed Behemoth took a bite out of the facedown card, which flipped to reveal a white dog, outfitted in gleaming armor with golden trim. As soon as it appeared, it let out a howl as it seemed to gleam in the light, its armor reflecting rays of light that pierced Twin-Headed Behemoth before its other head could bite down, reducing Kaiba’s monster to dust.

“Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, is a Flip Effect Monster. When it reveals itself, I may destroy one other monster on the field. Your Twin-Headed Behemoth is destroyed before its attack ever truly begins.” As Ishizu spoke, she drew three cards from the top of her Deck and sent them to her Graveyard without even looking. “I also must send the top three cards of my deck to my grave.”

Though the loss of his monster was admittedly painful, Kaiba wasn’t going to let that slow him down. “That’s a hefty cost for such a lame mutt. And it’s not going to last anyway! I’m activating Pot of Greed, to draw two more cards from my Deck!” He examined his two new acquisitions briefly, and smirked. “Perfect. My second Spell Card: Fissure! This card destroys whichever of your face-up monsters has the lowest Attack Points. Oh, wait… you’ve only got one.” As he smirked, the earth beneath Ryko cracked and opened up, swallowing the dog with barely a yelp. “I’ll set one more facedown and that’s my turn. Oh, and in case you didn’t know? They don’t call it Twin-Headed Behemoth for nothing.”

Kaiba laughed as his slain monster re-emerged in front of him, though only sporting 1000 Defense Points as it crossed its arms in a cautious posture. “So let’s recap. You wasted three cards to defend a worthlessly weak monster that didn’t even survive the turn anyway, and I STILL have my monster on my field. Understand that you’re outclassed now? Or did you see that coming?”

 

TURN 3 – ISHIZU 4000LP KAIBA 4000LP

Ishizu didn’t bat an eye. Her calmness was infuriating, and Kaiba was sure she knew it. She drew, and summoned another monster: this one much more humanoid, the white armor on his legs and curving golden sword he wielded contrasting with his tanned skin and dark blue clothing.

“I summon Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn—”

“—which you’re about to tell me all about, I’m sure, but first let me make sure you don’t cut yourself with that fancy butter knife. I activate my Spell Card, Shrink!” The hologram rose up and the power that loosed from it cut the man’s stature in half, leaving him comically smaller. “It halves your monster’s Attack Points till the end of your turn.”

“…Very well.” Ishizu bowed her head. “But your action has been hasty. As always, it will be your downfall. Raiden has an effect of his own to counter your magic: I send the top two cards of my Deck to the Graveyard. If any of them are Lightsworn monsters, he gains 200 Attack Points, restoring him to 1050 and making him strong enough to slay your Behemoth.” The ghost of a smile played on her lips as she milled the two cards, before another column of light obscured her features as a monster was summoned to her field: this one was much more intimidating. It was another canine, that was for sure, but this one was a whole lot more humanoid. The head of a wolf sat atop a muscular, white-furred torso, outfitted in that same platinum and gold armor. One hand ended in shimmering gold claws while the other hefted a mighty weapon over its shoulder.

“When Wulf, Lightsworn Beast, is sent directly from my Deck to the Graveyard, it is Special Summoned to my field. And since it is a Lightsworn monster and was sent to the Graveyard, Raiden’s vitality is restored.”

Kaiba knew what was coming next. As Raiden’s blade flashed and swiftly returned Twin-Headed Behemoth to the Graveyard, Wulf headed right for him. The hologram didn’t deal any physical damage, of course, which was lucky. Kaiba didn’t want to admit he might have flinched as the shaft of its weapon caught him across the gut, dealing 2100 points of direct damage.

After her monsters returned to her side, Ishizu rid her Deck of another two cards. “I mill two more cards as I still have Raiden on my field come my turn’s end. The path of absolute justice also requires great sacrifice.” The monster in question gripped its sword as it returned to its regular size, now that Shrink had worn off. Now its Attack Points totalled 1900: apparently its power boost from sending its comrade in arms to the Graveyard lasted a lot longer. What concerned Kaiba more was that it could now take him out of the Duel in one shot, to say nothing of Ishizu’s even stronger monster.

This was not looking good.

 

TURN 4 – ISHIZU 4000LP KAIBA 1900LP

“Spare me your platitudes!” With a growl, Kaiba drew in one hard motion, though he stood a little straighter when he saw the card in his hand. If Yugi were here, he’d attribute this draw to “the heart of the cards” or some other cliché about friendship: Kaiba called it good luck and good deck-building. “Absolute justice? You’re about to get absolutely crushed! I summon the Lord of D. in Attack mode!” Kaiba’s bone-armored monster took to his empty field. “This ought to make you happy: the Lord’s true power doesn’t come from his weak Attack Points. True power comes from what’s inside you, right, or some other crap like that?” With a sneer, Kaiba activated a Spell. “Well, what’s inside my Lord of D. is a voice befitting his station! And with that, I’ll use The Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon two Dragon monsters from my hand!”

A powerful wind whipped up across the battlefield as the sound of the Flute, a crisp and clear note, resounded around them. And as Kaiba played two more cards from his hand, that note was answered with two foreboding screeches. Ishizu knew what was coming, and Kaiba laughed as the wind stirred his coat, his laughter joined by the sound of two beating pairs of heavy wings.

“That’s right! Not one, but two Blue-Eyes White Dragons!” Kaiba spread his arms as the ivory dragons crashed into the corridor on either side of him, jaws snapping as the sun radiated off their armored scales. “Attack, my Blue-Eyes! Show her what you think of her ‘justice’!”

To the sound of their master’s commands, the imposing forms of two of Duel Monsters’ most feared beasts wasted no time. Two streaks of white lightning struck down Ishizu’s monsters one after another, her Life Points dropping by half from the battle damage alone.

The sight of Ishizu’s barren field drew even more laughter from Kaiba. “Where are your little fortune-cookie-quotes now? In the Graveyard with all the other cards you’ve burned? For a whole lot of good it’s done you, apparently. I end my turn.”

 

TURN 5 – ISHIZU 2000LP KAIBA 1900LP

Ishizu’s eyes narrowed beneath her white hood as she drew her next card. After studying it a moment, she sighed, closing her eyes. “Seto Kaiba… you are always so quick to assume power assures you victory. Perhaps power alone can change the course of fate, but without looking outside of yourself, you are unable to steer that course to the victory you truly desire.”

“Words, words, words. Big ones from a girl with no monsters.”

“You assume destiny chains you, when really it arms you against those who would seek to change your fate. But if a bigger stick is all you understand then even destiny must resort to brute force.” Ishizu activated a Spell as she drew a card from her Deck, dropping it into the Graveyard. “I activate Foolish Burial! This card sends one monster from my Deck to the Grave. I choose a second Wulf, Lightsworn Beast. And as you know, he returns to my field in short order.”

As the hulking wolf-man stared down the two snapping Blue-Eyes, Ishizu continued. “Next, I will summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin.” A white-haired woman in a heavy and ornate suit of platinum armor arose beside Wulf, bearing a sword and shield. Neither of them were strong enough to even annoy one of Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes White Dragons, though they looked commendably (and foolishly) ready to try.

But Ishizu seemingly had other plans as she raised a hand. “Now I possess two Level 4 monsters. And I overlay them both to build the Overlay Network!”

Kaiba’s teeth ground against each other. So Ishizu had Xyz Monsters too. He should have known her new deck wouldn’t be without this kind of power, but she was a dangerous enough opponent playing by the old rules. He had no idea what she’d be able to do with this kind of power.

A red, spiralling portal formed above the battlefield as the two Lightsworn monsters leapt upward into it. It churned and swirled ominously above them, generating the new power within.

“Purest maiden, hear the prayers of those who desire peace. Break through the walls of the world of justice and achieve sainthood in its light! Xyz Summon, Rank 4! Appear here now, Minerva the Exalted Lightsworn!”

Ishizu’s monster descended from the Overlay Network regally, taking form from its energy as it alighted on the ground. A young woman, her flawless white robes almost blindingly brilliant, with an owl perched on one arm, wings spread wide, and a sceptre held aloft in the other. And yet…

“2000 Attack Points? The stress must have finally gotten to you.” Kaiba could barely hold back his derision. “My Blue-Eyes will make a meal of your fancy Xyz Monster and you’ll be history next turn. All that fanfare for _that?_ ”

Ishizu had no reply. However, one of the swirling yellow orbs that signified Minerva’s Xyz Materials spun into her sceptre, alighting it for a moment as the monster raised it even higher. “By detaching one Xyz Material from Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn, I can send the top three cards of my Deck to the Graveyard and draw cards equal to the number of Lightsworn cards sent to my grave by her effect.” Milling three cards, she examined her Duel Disk for a moment before silently drawing one.

“Three for one? Looks like your luck’s running out. That or you’re just getting desperate,” Kaiba snapped as the turn passed to him.

 

TURN 6 – ISHIZU 2000LP KAIBA 1900LP

“I draw!” Kaiba barely even looked at his card as he flung his other hand out. “Blue-Eyes, make Minerva sorry she ever jumped out of that light show!”

Kaiba’s dragon obliged, rearing up as another beam attack streaked out of its mouth and reduced Ishizu’s Xyz Monster to shards of light, cutting Ishizu’s Life Points in half again. But she didn’t seem remotely fazed: if anything, she was almost smirking.

“You have grown reckless at what you perceive as the apex of your power, Kaiba. Arrogance holds you back, and blinds you to the true heights that humility can bring… and the blind are easily lead astray.”

Too late did Kaiba notice that the owl on Minerva’s arm had flown away before his attack had impacted, and now it hovered in the air, starting to glow. “When Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn, is destroyed, I mill another three cards from my Deck, and I may then destroy cards on the field up to the amount of Lightsworn cards sent to the grave this way.”

As Ishizu turned over another three cards from her rapidly thinning deck, that ghost of a smile flickered on her face again. “Do you still believe my luck has exhausted itself, Kaiba? Or has destiny shown that it rewards the patient?”

The owl began to glow, no longer silhouetted against the fluorescent lights but burning brighter, till its brilliant form came apart into three beams of light that spiralled together and crashed down on Kaiba’s field, eliminating his three monsters in one explosion of radiant energy.

To say Kaiba was furious would be an understatement. Two of his most prized monsters and a third that should have been able to protect them, wiped from the field entirely? Now      he was the one with nothing to his name, while Ishizu at least possessed a facedown card… and even if he could still summon this turn there was no monster in his hand to help.

He hissed “I set one card and end my turn,” through his teeth, setting the Negate Attack he had drawn earlier. At least this would defend him should Ishizu make another grand play like the previous one, giving him time to rebuild his forces.

 

TURN 7 – ISHIZU 1000LP KAIBA 1900LP

He wasn’t sure if her lack of smugness relieved or irritated him. Had it been anyone else, they surely would have revelled in seeing Seto Kaiba himself brought so low. As it was, Ishizu simply opened her face-down with a wave.

“I activate the trap card Glorious Illusion,” she explained. “This allows me to summon one of the Lightsworn monsters in my Graveyard back to the field. I choose Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner.”

The monster that arrived to the field in a burst of light was another woman, this one tan and weaving magical energies between her fingers as she stood. Kaiba hadn’t seen this monster yet, but given how many cards Ishizu was funnelling into her Graveyard he was sure there were plenty for her to choose from, and she’d picked this one for a reason.

“Next, I will summon Jenis, Lightsworn Mender.”  A frailer woman appeared on the battlefield, this one with a golden rod and much more ornate robes than her companion.

And as Kaiba had guessed, Lumina spread her arms, casting magical circles through the air. “By discarding one card, I can activate Lumina’s effect and summon another Lightsworn from my grave. Now arise Felis, Lightsworn Archer!” A third platinum-clad warrior leapt forth from the arcane portal Lumina had formed. This one was another non-human like Wulf, a feline-featured woman with wild green hair and a nocked bow pointed at Kaiba, mockingly leering as her tiger-striped tail whipped around behind her.

“I’m sure you’re not done,” he remarked, though his cool exterior hid a mind that was starting to race with worry.

“Hardly. For Felis is a Tuner monster,” Ishizu replied, and Kaiba already knew where this was going.

Not that he’d allow her to see his growing apprehension. “Xyz AND Synchro Monsters? You’ve really gone all out, haven’t you? I’m flattered that you think it’s enough to beat me.”

Ishizu again gave no reply. Her monsters, however, sprang into action. Felis shone emerald and her body became four green rings, glowing in the air, as Lumina dissipated into three glowing orbs of white light. “I tune my Level 3 Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner into my Level 4 Felis, Lightsworn Archer!”

She raised her hand to the sky, her turn to call on a power that Kaiba could feel begin to rise like static electricity over his skin. “Oh, lord of the light, ride forth on the mighty dragon of judgment as guardian of heroes! Save me in this holy battle and be my ark! Seal and destroy the wicked! Synchro Summon, Level 7! Descend, Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn!”

Down from out of the heavens descended an giant platinum-feathered dragon, perhaps even rivalling Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes White Dragons in size. But it was clear that wasn’t where the true power lay: the dragon bowed its head to allow the figure standing on its back as if riding a gigantic steed to rise to his full, imposing height. This monster wore not platinum armor, but gleaming gold, winged and intricate, and carried a truly foreboding sword with a blade made of pure light.

“I will show you the same courtesy you have shown me and waste no time in showing you what power the leader of the Lightsworn can harness. Michael, attack with Decisive Blade!”

The dragon roared as its rider spurred it on, blade outstretched for Kaiba’s neck. Like a flash, Kaiba’s arm shot out. “Trap Card open! Negate Attack!” Space warped before the mighty monster, halting its advance as the vortex in reality swallowed its strike. Left with no choice, it returned to Ishizu’s side.

The Egyptian woman nodded, setting another facedown card. “You are resourceful, Kaiba. But earthly resources all eventually run dry in the face of the infinity of destiny. At the end of my turn, I mill three further cards, the penance for calling on the divine presence of Michael. Since I have done so under the effect of a Lightsworn monster, Jenis weaves a spell of rejuvenation for the forces of justice, restoring their strength by the enemies fallen before them. In short, you take 500 damage and I regain 500 Life Points.”

The rod in one hand raised up, letting out a cool light that washed over Ishizu and refreshed her, while the other turned dark with crackling energy as a thin bolt struck Kaiba. Ishizu was now at 1500 Life Points, a thin hundred over his. And with nothing left on his field at all, his chance to defend himself a second time against Ishizu’s mighty Synchro monster was about as thin.

“Well, Kaiba? The turn is yours. Prove to me that you can defy your fate or perish!” Ishizu challenged.

With one Trap Card in his hand that would do him no good and a Deck that was quickly starting to run out of options, Kaiba’s choice between the two options was starting to slip away from him.

 

Beep… beep… beep…

“…S-Seto…”


End file.
